Australia’s second most populous state Victoria will enter a seven-day lockdown to counter a fast-spreading outbreak in its capital, Melbourne. The lockdown will begin at midnight on Thursday (14:00 GMT). Authorities have so far found 26 cases, and identified 150 sites where people may have been exposed to the virus. There is growing anxiety over the outbreak which reminds many locals of a devastating second wave that swept the state last year. Victoria’s acting Premier James Merlino said the outbreak involved a highly contagious strain of the virus, the B.1.617 variant. A returned traveller was infected with the strain, which Mr Merlino said was spreading “faster than we have ever recorded”. Cases have been found across the state with links to a large number of venues, including packed football games at stadiums in Melbourne. “With 10,000 primary and secondary contacts of cases, with more than 150 exposure sites right around the state of Victoria, we need to act now,” Mr Merlino said.

Russia has started vaccinating animals against coronavirus, officials say. In March, Russia announced it had registered what it said was the world’s first animal-specific jab. Several regions have now started vaccinations at veterinary clinics, Russia’s veterinary watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, told local media. Interest has been shown in the Carnivak-Cov vaccine by the EU, Argentina South Korea and Japan, the agency said. While scientists say there is currently no evidence that animals play a significant role in spreading the disease to humans, infections have been confirmed in various species worldwide. These include dogs, cats, apes and mink.(BBC)…[+]

Iran has announced a four-month ban on the energy-consuming mining of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin after cities suffered unplanned blackouts. President Hassan Rouhani told a cabinet meeting the main cause of the blackouts was a drought that had affected hydro-electric power generation.  But he said cryptocurrency mining, 85% of which is unlicensed, was draining more than 2GW from the grid each day. An estimated 4.5% of all Bitcoin mining takes place in Iran. According to analytics firm Elliptic, the activity allows the country to bypass sanctions and earn hundreds of millions of dollars in crypto-assets that can be used to purchase imports.(BBC)…[+]

A gunman has killed eight people at a commuter train yard in California. The shooting took place at the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) rail yard in San Jose. Officials say the victims include multiple transit employees. The suspect, an employee, is also dead. The shooting broke out around 06:45 local time (14:45 GMT). Officials say the suspect may have set his home on fire before the attack. Across the US, there have been 230 mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. A mass shooting is defined by the group as a crime in which four or more people are fatally shot.(BBC)…[+]

Sixteen people, including at least two children, have been killed in a rebel attack in Peru, the country’s defence minister has confirmed. The far-left Shining Path guerrilla group says it was behind the attack. It left pamphlets at the scene ordering people not to vote in the upcoming presidential election. The Maoist rebel group lost much of its power after the arrest of its leader in 1992 but remnants are still active in Peru’s coca-producing region. The government says the Shining Path has since turned into a criminal group engaged in drug trafficking.(BBC)…[+]

The Turkish government has reacted furiously to corruption allegations made by a fugitive gang boss whose YouTube videos have been watched by millions of Turks. The seventh video, broadcast by Sedat Peker on Sunday, has had more than 12 million page views. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu has called for an inquiry into his claims and for him to be charged with slander. Peker, 49, says he is now in Dubai. He served several jail terms in Turkey. He began posting the videos in early May after a police operation targeted him and his gang. He fled Turkey last year to avoid prosecution, and was previously jailed for fraud and running a criminal group.(BBC)…[+]

Myanmar’s former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has appeared in court in person for the first time since her government was overthrown by the military in February. The hearing, in the capital Naypyidaw, was immediately adjourned. The former leader faces several charges including violating a state secrets law. Before the hearing, Ms Suu Kyi was allowed to meet her lawyers in person for the first time. She has been held under house arrest for the 16 weeks since she was deposed. Myanmar’s military has accused Ms Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, of fraud in the general election it won last November. Independent election monitors say the election was largely free and fair, and the charges against Ms Suu Kyi have been widely criticised as politically motivated.(BBC)…[+]

Ernestine Kabuo returned home after fleeing the lava flow in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, to find that her husband had not survived. The 68 year old was unable to carry her sick husband out of their house and she found him burnt to death, she told Reuters news agency. At least 15 deaths have been confirmed following Saturday’s eruption of a nearby volcano, Mount Nyiragongo. But the lava stopped short of the city’s built-up area. This avoided the level of death and destruction witnessed in 2002. It did, however, hit the Buhene district, where Ms Kabuo’s home was. “I said to myself: I can’t go alone, we’ve been married for the best and for the worst,” she told Reuters reflecting on what happened on Saturday. “I went back to at least try to get him out but couldn’t. I ran away and he got burned inside. I don’t know what to do. I curse this day.”(BBC)…[+]

An Indian couple reportedly chartered a plane and held a mid-air wedding with more than 160 guests in an effort to escape coronavirus restrictions. Video footage posted on social media appeared to show the couple and their guests packed into the hired jet. The state of Tamil Nadu, where the flight was said to have originated, recently imposed tougher restrictions, limiting weddings to 50 guests. India’s aviation authority has launched an investigation, reports said.

An official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) told the Times of India that the SpiceJet staff aboard the flight had been taken off duty. A SpiceJet spokesperson told the Indian Express that the Boeing 737 was booked from Madurai to Bangalore by a travel agent for a trip after a wedding. The spokesperson said the client was “clearly briefed on Covid guidelines to be followed and denied permission for any activity to be performed on board”.(BBC)…[+]